 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 20, 2012 It was a bit of a mystery to many people. Everyone knew why they were there, many attended because they were invited. Some weren’t sure if they could just show up; there was apparently no security for the event which was an occasion to recognize the 35 years of service Cam Jackson had given the city as a School Board trustee, a Member of the provincial legislature and finally as the Mayor of the city.
 Controversial and perhaps out of place at city hall, Jackson was recognized on the weekend by his friends for his service. His most important contribution, the Shape Burlington report which he commissioned, brought about a change in the way the city wanted to see its citizens participate. It was an important report and should be seen as the biggest part of his legacy to the city. To give the occasion a lasting sense of occasion the walkway between the Locust Street parking garage, which was put in place by Jackson’s erstwhile foe Rob MacIsaac, and the Performing Arts Centre was named the Cam Jackson Accessibility Walkway.
Many remembered the work Jackson did while at Queen’s Park on behalf of many in the dis-abled community.
We are told there were between 300 and 400 people in attendance with plenty of food and drink. Our commentator said he didn’t know who paid for the refreshments or for the use of the space at The performing Arts Centre. The event was clearly a Tory Blue day; one with the Conservative faithful paying their respects to the work Jackson had done.
There was a mention of Jackson’s work as a lobbyist on behalf of an organization in the optical business but our commentator advises us that Jackson is no longer employed there but that his former administrative assistant while he was Mayor, is still listed on the web site staff directory.
No one is sure either, as to how the Walkway came to get Jackson’s name put on it. The garage is owned by the city, the Performing Arts building is owned by the city – which would then mean that the Walkway is also owned by the city – no?
The decision to put the name of a former Mayor on the walkway was never approved by Council – it was never even taken to city Council. Was the fear that a decision would be one of those infamous Jackson 4-3 votes with the direction of the yea or nay never really certain?
Mayor Goldring was asked if he would attend a private event to recognize Jackson’s service and being the decent human being he is Goldring said yes.
 Always there to help the “Sally Ann” former Burlington Mayor Cam Jackson, recognized for 35 years of community service on the weekend, continues to head up the Salvation Army Food Drive Jackson was controversial as a Mayor. There are still many who voice some very hard feelings about the way he served as Mayor. One former council member who has been in place almost as long as Jackson was at Queen’s Park made the observation that “Jackson took on the job of Mayor as if he was the Prime Minister of the city” and that did not ride very well with most of the senior level of the civic administration.
Part of the historical and the political process is to bind the wounds and remember that the purpose is always the betterment of the community. There are times when you have to hold your nose while doing so – but Cameron Jackson did represent the people of the city at Queen’s Park and racked up some impressive wins as well as some close calls. Controversial he may have been but there was a day when he took 70% of the vote – not something to be ignored.
Jackson continues to serve as chair of the Salvation Army Food Bank drive.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 We know a bit more about that Defining the Dream idea the Mayor has been toiling away at. About 30 people will be taking part. The Mayor seems to have his Council members more on side than they were when he launched the idea.
We know there will be two former Mayors involved, Walter Mulkewich and Rob MacIsaac. (Can you imagine if it had been Cam Jackson and Rob MacIsaac?) There will be two developers; Angelo Paletta – the developer the city has the most difficulty with. One participant in the “dream team” suggested the Mayor has decided to have his biggest problem in the room rather than outside. Might be an awkward day for Angelo Paletta. Will Rick Craven be there to argue for at least some employment land development in Aldershot? Any guesses as to who the other developer will be?
There are a number of “business people” who have contributed enough to cover the cost of the event. What is disturbing is that the Mayor expects to see some new ideas come from the core “establishment” of the city. Sort of like expecting a different answer but always asking the same question of the same people.
When discussing the event with the Mayor – it wasn’t a formal interview – we asked if he had any “oddballs” attending and reminded the Mayor of the idea former Toronto Mayor David Crombie passed along to Goldring at a meeting of the about to sunset Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee more than a year ago.
 Former Toronto Mayor David Crombie speaks at a Waterfront Advisory meeting and tells them to “look for some oddballs to sit on your design committee”. Mayor Goldring says he doesn’t know any oddballs to put on the committee he has formed to Define the Dream. The Mayor said he didn’t know any oddballs and hadn’t invited anyone that might have been described as a loose cannon. Burlingtonians tend to wax eloquent about the waterfront and the Escarpment and crow about our being the second safest city in the country with the lowest expected growth rate between now and 2031. That’s all within our comfort zone. We don’t talk about the poverty.
The names of the people invited to take part in the event haven’t been released yet. The Mayor explains that some of the invited participants have yet to confirm their attendance. Maybe the public will get the transparency they deserve next week when all the participants are confirmed and the Mayor issues a second press release.
There is too much about this planned event that is being treated in a very tight lipped manner. It is always politically foolish to talk about funding being provided by “business” people without naming them. We are aware of a large commercial property holding company that manages a number of strip malls along Fairview as well as holdings up and down Brant Street, who is reported to have contributed a large amount and to have been a major influence behind the idea.
 Angelo Palleta is expected to take part in Mayor Goldring’s Defining the Dream. Will Paletta remind the Mayor that he could have had a massive dream had he gone along with Paletta’s move to get the Tiger Cats into Burlington. Property owners have close dealings with city hall- it is just politically stupid to get into bed with them. Go public the moment as much a dime changes hands and thank them profusely for their contribution.
Mayor Goldring has said that he will report to the public on what comes out of the two solid days of meetings with the 30 people. He will add to that what city staff, who have volunteered their time, think has to be done to implement some of the ideas that percolate up from the discussion being run by a very high powered facilitator.
We are aware of at least one participant who bought facilitator Lance Secretan’s book The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch and was quite impressed with the content and is looking forward to taking part. This individual bought his copy – have the rest of the participants been given any background? Our source said he was impressed enough with the content to give the book a second read.
 Lance Secretan will lead Mayor Goldring’s two day private event with 30 citizens while they attempt to define the dream for the city. Secretan holds a PhD and has written a number of books. The Burlington event is being based on The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch, which one participant in the event has read and says he was impressed with. Our source said Secretan calls into question the Strategic Plan approach to creating the way a city works. Secretan apparently doesn’t have much time for mission statements and “visions”, unless they are driven by a very specific mission and a lot of passion. Secretan looks for “cultural change”.
Good luck on changing the culture of this city. Goldring put it all pretty well when he said “Burlington is complacent”. When the “establishment” in this city realizes it is about to have its lunch eaten by someone else they will go through a very swift cultural change. Until then they will do everything they can to ensure that the other guys don’t get to eat their lunch. Complacent indeed.
The Mayor has said that he has been reluctant to release the name of the participants because he “wants them to have a safe place” where they can discuss different ideas – which struck me as a bit of a crock as I listened to Goldring.
One has to assume there will be a report from the event and that the Mayor will take it to the larger community and then eventually to a council committee.
This initiative doesn’t seem to have a clear communications plan attached to it.
While the Mayor does his “thing” BurlingtonGreen, never slouches when it comes to showing initiative, will be holding a “Think Tank” session of their own at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday of this week at the Central Library.
“We are inviting our members and the general public to attend our Annual General Meeting which will include a “Think Tank” forum to gather strategies to support a brighter future for Burlington.”
“Our City is quickly running out of room to grow, making planning decisions even more important. We must ensure that intensification plans that forever change the landscape of Burlington and many of our neighbourhoods respect the environment and the rights of future generations. We are inviting the citizens of Burlington to share their ideas on neighbourhoods and what they need to make them more liveable & environmentally sound. The input gathered will be included in a report we will be submitting to the City as part of their Official Plan process.” said Ken Woodruff, President of BurlingtonGreen.
 BurlingtonGreen president Ken Woodruff will chair the BurlingtonGreen AGM and participate in the “Think Tank” session they plan to hold. He is reported to be also participating in the Mayor’s Dream Team that is meeting earlier in the same day. Busy man.. Is Woodruff making sure the BurlingtonGreen agenda is clearly heard and not muffled by whatever the Mayor “dream Team” comes up with.
What`s really interesting is that Woodruff is also reported to be taking part in the Mayor`s two day event.
The BurlingtonGreen event is open to everyone, and will be held on Thursday November 22, 2012 in the Holland Room at Burlington Central Library located at 2331 New Street. Doors open at 6:30pm, with the presentation beginning at 7pm.
 Colleen Mulholland was apparently the force behind the decision to publish a Vital Signs report that some in the social services community thought was a little “spotty” and on the weak side. Colleen Mulholland Executive Director of the Burlington Community Foundation is taking part, hopefully not on the basis of the Vital signs report they recently produced. That report is seen by some in the city as a “rushed effort”; done by Burlington Community Development because almost every other city had put one out and Burlington needed a similar report just to be seen as being in the game.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 It is always interesting when a person who operates a business in the city; one that requires licensing and is overseen by a city department, suggests to the city that they might be able to offer an additional service and would like to try out a new idea.
Scott Wallace, president of Burlington Taxi did that last March when he took the idea of setting up a taxi shuttle service that would get people, who shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car, home once the bars in the downtown core closed and to drive people from bar to bar during the evening.
It worked, sort of, and well enough for Wallace to ask if he could run the same type of service between late November and the first of the new year. After very little discussion council committee said “sure, why not” and moved it along to a full council meeting.
What was disappointing was that the committee didn’t give the idea a lot of attention and no one thanked Scott Wallace for the idea and the initiative he took. The least he deserved was a “thank you”. Maybe he’ll get that at the council meeting.
 Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster chats with Burlington Taxi president Scott Wallace during the Downtown visioning exercise recently. The idea was brought forward last March when Burlington Taxi made a formal request to Community Development Committee to operate a shuttle taxi service for the downtown restaurant and bar patrons. The proposed pilot was to operate during peak times of the year on Saturday nights from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. after which time the City of Burlington would evaluate whether this would be a long term viable.
Council approved the pilot.
Overall, while the pilot project was not a huge success, the idea that there are options available for people to move about the downtown and to take people home during the peak times was seen as an important move forward in the area of alternative transportation said Manager of By-law Enforcement and Licensing, Tracey Burrows, who has the letters C.P.S.O., M.L.E.O. (c) behind her name; heaven only knows what they mean.
The goal of the Pilot, which ran from May 5, 2012 to September 1, 2012, was to evaluate operating larger capacity vehicles in the downtown core to assist in moving patrons between downtown bar locations during the late evening (11pm -1am) hours and then out of the downtown core in a more timely fashion during the bar rush period. (1 a.m. – 3 a.m.)
The Service Area for this pilot was bordered by QEW in the west, the Guelph Line in the east, Fairview Street in the north and Lakeshore road in the south. All patrons requiring rides outside of this area would use standard taxi services or other transportation of their choice.
Two Multi-passenger vehicles (Ford club vans) between the hours of 11PM and 3AM every Saturday night. beginning on May 5.
One van was used to shuttle people between different bars and began at Emmas Backporch at 11PM and drove a route:
1. Proceed to Pearl Street (Poacher)
2. Proceed to Elizabeth Street (Martini House/Dickens/Honey West)
3. Proceed to Brant Plaza using John Street Access (Joe Dogs)
4. Proceed South on Brant Street to Lakeshore Road. (Queens Head/Rude Native/Pepperwood)
5. Turn East on Lakeshore Road to Waterfront Hotel (Beaver and Bulldog)
6. Return to Old Lakeshore Road (Emmas)
The vehicle stopped for passengers at any point on the route but would not take passengers to any destinations off the route. This bar to bar service ended at 1AM. When the vehicle began to deliver patrons to any destination within the designated Service Area concluding service at 3AM.
 Older Ford club vans, which were technically not licensed as taxis, were used during the pilot with the full consent of the city. The multi-passenger service worked well enough for Burlington Taxi to ask for a second pilot with a view to making this a permanent service. After the first six weeks Wallace found there was little demand for the bar to bar service so he revised the offering to allow both vehicles to be available to transport anywhere in the City of Burlington including bar to bar downtown.
Wallace fully expected problematic behavior to be a major concern. He is “ happy to say that it has not been an issue at all. Our drivers have reported to us that for the most part the passengers have not caused any major issues.”
“The impact on Taxi Drivers Income was a major issue when we debated this type of service”, reports Wallace. “ We closely monitor driver income to ensure they can also make a decent living. When we compared driver revenue per hour from the same time last year there was no significant change. Additionally we had no complaints from our drivers about the vans being on the road.”
The total Revenue for the pilot was $3,425.00. The total Expenses for the pilot was $5,152. This only includes driver wages, fuel and insurance. It does not include vehicle depreciation or repairs and maintenance.
Wallace also reported that the pilot had limited impact on service levels. “They averaged around 80% which is considered good for this specific PEAK period. The use of the service was very limited with less than 5% of all calls using the service while having to be subsidized by Burlington Taxi.”
However the pilot did have some successes. “People were generally satisfied with the service and having another option of getting home at peak times. Additionally while the pilot operated during some peak months a good part of it ran during slower months skewing the ridership volumes. We had extreme high volumes of business during the Sound of Music festival and usage was very high, ” said Wallace
Wallace believes that “ if marketed properly and operated only during the peak months of November, December, May and June that this service could be successful.”
Wallace wanted pricing to be $5 per person anywhere in the City of Burlington.
Wallace likes what he learned enough to advise the city that he is in the process of finalizing a proposal to the city for peak period taxis to operate on Saturday nights throughout the year.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 Burlington, like many other municipalities across the province, looks to its citizens for advice, guidance and fresh ideas.
Among those currently looking for people who want to serve and feel they have something useful to offer are:
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
Burlington Civic Recognition Awards Committee
Burlington Cycling Committee
Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee
Burlington Mundialization Committee
Burlington Public Library Board
Burlington Sustainable Development Committee
Burlington Transit Advisory Committee
Heritage Burlington
Heritage Umbrella Group (HUG)
Burlington Seniors’ Advisory Committee
Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee
The Board of Directors of Burlington Hydro Electric
 Members of the Inclusivity Advisory Committee who put on a Civic Square BBQ event to draw attention to an initiative they developed. Advisory committees are not just attending meetings – lots of fun as well. The Waterfront Access committee has been sunset by the city – shouldn’t have been on the list, but if the waterfront interests you – get in touch with Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and take part in the ad hoc committee that she formed when the Waterfront committee, formed by Cam Jackson before the 2010 municipal election, was shut down effective December 31st.
While we have not attended meetings of every Advisory committee we have been to enough of them (the only media in the city to do so by the way) and we can tell you that some work very well while others are walking disasters where people shout at each other, throw documents at each other and get precious little done.
At the same time there are others that are close to sterling in what they do and the advice they pass on to city council committees. The city actually outsources much related to heritage in the city to Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee. It is an exceptionally well run committee but it has some deeply rooted differences of opinion on property rights and the role heritage plays in the creation of a balanced community.
The differences are real and for the most part respected – it is a pleasure to watch the dynamic created when different opinions work towards a solution they can all live with.
Working in that kind of an environment takes a level of maturity not seen on some committees. So if you decide serving your city in an advisory capacity is for you – think about leaving your emotional baggage at home and go to meetings prepared to hear new ideas that might move you out of your comfort zone.
You’ll be a bigger and better person if you can do that – and the city will have the benefit of a public that has some skin in the game.
Terms vary from one to four years, with monthly meetings. Volunteering on one of our local boards or citizen committees is a great opportunity to meet new people, share your talents, and develop your skills while addressing a common interest.
The city also appoints people to various boards and agencies. Several of these are reserved for members of Council. If you’re interested – check into the city’s web site and look over the forms – and if you’re still interested – look up the names of the people who currently serve on an advisory committee and have a chat with them. That won’t be easy because the city doesn’t make their addresses or telephone numbers available (they call that protecting a person’s privacy – if you want to be private then don’t get involved in public matters is our view on this)
Each of the Advisory Committees reports to a committee of city council and reports to them at least annually. The more active advisory committees are in close to continued communication with the city.
It can be fun, it can be exciting and it can also be very exasperating. But if you want to make a difference – this is as good a place as any to start. If you do decide you want to try this – leave your ego at home.
Still interested? Here’s where you start.
 REVISED
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 19, 2012 If you’re looking for any of the city council members this morning or the city manager either for that matter – stop looking. They are all at a closed meeting of city council to talk about what they refer to as a Human Resources matter – which means the hiring, or the firing of someone, or dealing with a very serious complaint.
We goofed.
A guy at city hall who is a lot smarter than I am called to point out that I had things mixed up. There are TWO closed meetings – one this morning, the 19th, which was a CLOSED Workshop at which Linda Moore took Council and senior staff through an exercise intended to “improve teamwork, raise the bar and expand on the expectations”. They did that I was informed under Section 239 (3.1) of the Municipal Act. That event took place at the McMaster University DeGroote School of Business.
The other meeting, the one that has to do with the hiring and the firing – that one takes place NEXT Monday.
Finding out where the meeting were taking place was clearly a challenge I didn’t meet. The city’s web site shows two locations – one document says it is to take place at the McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business while another document says it will take place in the `Cabinet Room at a local hotel. I clearly got it all mixed up.
Doesn’t matter which, you’re not allowed in anyway – but it does point to a problem with the way information shows up on the web site, which is to undergo a significant and badly needed upgrade. I am on the city web site close to a dozen times in any one day and know it as well as most. It isn’t all that friendly. There is a Request for Proposals put out by the city for someone to do the upgrade that closes early in December.
 Doctors viewing data on a web site – done right the internet allows for a very smooth and fulsome display of data and information. Burlington isn’t there yet – but they are at least moving in the right direction. Whoever is chosen will take on the task of re-building the web site. This is an opportunity for the city to “shine” by choosing the right firm and not getting stuck with a lowest bidder situation. Please – not another pier. Hopefully, when the job is done, we will see a source of information that is user friendly and holds everything you ever wanted to know about the city. Showing two locations for a meeting you are not allowed to attend isn’t quite what is meant by useful information.
Friends sent us a link to a piece that gives a glimpse of where the future could take us. Have a look. Burlington could have something like this; the city could provide transit information on the web that would be real time to let me know where the bus is and how long before it gets to my stop. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make an appointment with your council member via the web site.
The city has decided it wants to move all its information out to a web site and let the public interact with the city at that level rather than deal with people face to face or over the telephone.
Properly designed getting what you want via a web site can work very well. Unfortunately much of what Burlington has in place right now – just doesn`t work all that well.
What kind of experiences have you had? Leave a comment.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 14, 2012 Mayor Rick Goldring got the surprise of his life, when he learned that the province expected him to come up with $60 million to pay for a portion of the re-build of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. In the old days, when Goldring was getting his tonsils taken out at JBMH, health care was a provincial matter.
 Paid for by 2018 – they promise you that. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to end the hospital levy in 2018. Taxpayers are going to be the gift that keeps on giving. Times do change. The city sucked it up and looked at its taxpayers and said: we have to hit you for $60 million, but we are going to have a great hospital, when this is all said and done. The fact that the new Family Medical centre and the parking garage are being built on a flood plain, doesn’t seem to factor into how “great” that hospital is going to be.
 Those numbers above are your dollars. It represents the amount the city gives to the hospital to pay for building the additions. While the city is collecting a special hospital levy from you now – they tuck that into a bank account and earn interest. At some point the city has to borrow money to make the payments. No matter – the good people of Burlington sucked it up and told every polling organization that chose to ask them that the hospital was THE top priority. That the JBMH Foundation also had to come up with their $60 million seemed to make it all a little easier to bear.
 Here is what this means – the number that matters is on the far right. For every $100,000 of assessment value on your home you will pay an amount ranging from $4.28 to as high as $14.98. That’s just what it is going to cost to re-build the hospital that everyone says they want. Continuing to take what started out as hospital levy money after the hospital is built and paid for is what might seem unfair or misleading to taxpayers. The tax levy column, second from the right, isn’t as clear as it might have been. It should read – Tax levy in millions. Learning too that the cost came down to a paltry $3.99 for every $100,000 of assessment on your house made it sound like easy credit. That $3.99 does balloon to $7.49 then to $11.24 and up as high as $14.98 – but those are just details. By the year 2028, when we are assured the Pier will be finished, the hospital will be paid for and we can all visit our family members who are being cared for in a state of the art medical facility.
Not so fast, my Mother used to say as I was scooting out the door to find some mischief.
 Do you know why they’re smiling? It isn’t because Santa Claus is coming soon. They figured out a way to continue taking the special hospital construction levy out of your pockets. If you managed to pull off a stunt like that you too would be smiling. Turns out that the Significant Seven that serve as your Council are not going to lift that hospital levy come 2028. It will just get rolled over and become part of what you pay in taxes every year.
Call it a sneaky tax grab if you want. Call it misleading the taxpayers, which is what at least one Council member thought of the plan. Councillor Sharman, who positions himself as one of the better financial minds on Council did say that “rather than give it back (the hospital levy) we are going to re-assign it.
Say what you wish. By the time 2028 rolls around none of the rascals who put their hands even deeper into your pockets will be on this earth and with one exception, probably not even on Council. They expect to be able to get away with it.
Is it fair? No – they should be telling you or even better they should be asking you if this is the way you want to be taxed. They won’t ask you directly but, come the next election – you might want to ask a question or two as to how they think they can pull this one off.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 12, 2012 The Mayor’s dream could become a bit of a nightmare. More than half of his Council isn’t on board for this one. Those we spoke with did so on an unattributed basis.
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
The media release in which the “dream team” idea was revealed was thin on details. Other than knowing a bit about who is paying for the event and that his Council members have noses very much out of joint we still don’t know much. The Mayor’s office has not gotten back to us with any details
 Is this still one big happy family? Or has the idea of working together beginning to fall apart. Council members were told of the Mayors Plan to hold a meeting that would pull together a group of citizens to talk about “Defining our Dream”. The idea apparently came about after the Mayor read Lance Secretan’s The Spark, The Flame, and the Torch, while on vacation last summer. Then, when a local commercial landlord suggested to the Mayor that the city didn’t have a clear sense of where it was going the two streams of thought came together and the event went from an idea to a fully formed event.
The Mayor apparently liked what he had read and liked what he was hearing as well and went ahead with his plan to pull a dream out of a group of citizens the Mayor has chosen.
Council members were first told that just one Council member would be asked to attend. That didn’t go over very well. There was a general uproar from council members which moved the Mayor to change his mind and allow that they could all attend but they would have to take part in the full program which is to consist of:
A half-day session on November 21st to get a briefing on the ground rules and how the two day session that follows will be done.
Then there are two full days of “daydreaming” – that’s on the Thursday and Friday.
Then on the Saturday morning there will be session with city staff, who will attend on a “volunteer” basis, and talk about how this dream might be implemented. How does a staff member say no to the Mayor when asked to help a group of citizens implement a dream?
 Frank McKeown, Mayor’s Chief of Staff, attempts to fix the clock in Council Chambers. There are things that perhaps need fixing on the eighth floor. Once council member was aghast when told this was the plan and made the comment that it is council that determines what is to be implemented.
A number of council members cannot or do not want to devote that much time to a project they apparently had little input on. One asked: Is this the kind of stuff on the part of the mayor what happens when Frank decides to leave the eighth floor?”. Frank is Frank McKeown, the Mayor’s current Chief of Staff who leaves that position December 31st.
 Thinking it through while developing the Strategic Plan. Was the same kind of thinking done with the Defining the Dream initiative? Another council member suggested there may have been a bit of a ”falling out” between the Mayor and his Chief of Staff on directions to be taken during the second half of his first term of office.
That same council member informed us that there was “significant developer” money behind the $50,000 this three days of day dreaming event is going to cost. That may be a bit of a stretch – we are told that all of the funds needed to pay for the event came from the business community, however the Mayor has not said who those business people are. One is the owner of a very significant number of commercial rental properties.
The idea of pulling together a group of citizens to talk about the “big dream for the city first came to public notice when the Mayor put out a press release saying:
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves” … “ I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.”
 Checking over the notes. The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
The understanding a number of people close to this development have is that a property owner has had a very significant impact on the Mayor’s thinking – more than most of the council members which has them upset. They thought they were part of a team and that this council had gotten away from the Cam Jackson habit of going off on one tangent after another.
There are many noses out of joint over this one. An idea that has some merit but little transparency now has to overcome serious opposition from council members when it should be moving forward very smoothly.
The public doesn’t know who has been invited to take part in the defining of the dream. Is this the Mayor’s circle of “friends” advisers and financial contributors? On what basis were they chosen?
Who is Lance Secretan? Our Burlington did a piece on the man and his book sometime ago when the Mayor mentioned he was going to be reading the book while on vacation.
Secretan is seen as a part of the Tony Robbins “self-help” crowd that advances a theory and an approach to changing the life you live. Secretan has taken that marketing approach to the corporate level. It sells.
Secretan espouses what are called the CASTLE principles: Courage, Authenticity, Service, Truthfulness, Love and Effectiveness. He is a physical fitness buff who has a home in Ontario. One can see the similarities in personality traits between the Mayor and Lance Secretan who is basically a motivational speaker.
Here is how Secretan describes what he does:
Over 30 years at the Secretan Center, we have discovered that the common, unifying experience among winning teams, great endeavors and extraordinary achievements—is a dream.
A dream is not the same as the familiar “Mission, Vision and Values” statements favored by so many organizations. A dream is an order of greater magnitude. It is a bold declaration of how we are going to make a difference in the world, what new frontier we are going to establish, how we will redefine the game we play, the new standards we will set, and what we will do to light fires in the imaginations and hearts of all those we touch.
The Secretan Center has developed a breakthrough system that invites leaders to identify, realize and sustain their dreams—their most extraordinary, outrageous, never-before-achieved aspirations. We call it the ONE Dream® Process. We begin by identifying what we call “Permission Space” which is the energy that propels a dream—for an organization, a city, a state or province, or for a country.
The central philosophy that powers the ONE Dream® process is our belief in dreams to inspire organizations and communities and their stakeholders to outstanding performance. Modern organizations have forgotten how to dream and instead have adopted stale, uninspiring statements and slogans. Mission statements often fail to arouse passion, but dreams always do—history is filled with examples of great leaders with big dreams. If an organization aligns its entire cultural architecture and energy behind the realization of ONE Dream®, breakthrough results—big dreams—can happen for people, customers, the organization and the community.
Any dream this city develops needs to be firmly grounded in reality and based on a solid understanding of the dynamics involved.
Is Secretan who the Mayor of Burlington should be using to define the dream for the city? Why – when he had full access to one of the best facilitators and consultants on how municipalities grow in this country.
 Georgina Black, on the right, led Council and senior city staff through an extensive Strategic Plan development process. They weren’t abler to set out the dream then – they weren’t ready. Mayor Goldring thinks the city is ready now. Georgina Black, a partner with the consulting firm KPMG led the city through an at times exhaustive but very thorough process that produced the Strategic Plan the city now has in place. The eleven half day event that was open and involved all the council members and all senior city staff, didn’t manage to define the “big hairy audacious” goal they were looking for, partly because they were not ready.
Creating a meaningful and fully thought out Strategic Plan was not something this Council or most members of the senior levels at city hall had much experience with. Given where they were – they did very well. The smart idea would have been to bring back a consultant with a solid track record with experience in a sector that is complex and considerably different than the corporate world where the bottom line matters more than anything else.
One Council member thought the Mayor “should have done something like this when the Strategic Plan was being developed. “That would have been a good time to get public input. The Mayor could have invited specific people and made the event open to the public as well.”
We have noticed that when the Mayor is listening to people he doesn’t have much time for he can be very short and curt; almost dismissive. We saw this early in the Strategic Plan development when different stakeholders were making their presentations. While the comments made were what was expected, basically the “same old”, the Mayor was less than gracious with these people.
Is Burlington about to create another mini-pier incident and move forward without a solid plan vetted by all the people who should be involved and who are responsible for the outcome? We’ve seen where that approach takes us.
This adventure is being billed as one that isn’t going to cost the city anything. Business people put up funds for things that will serve their purposes; that’s what business is about. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.
When the Workshop has been completed the Mayor has said he will share the results with the community – he is going to have to share much more with the community before the workshop if the results are to have any credibility.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 10, 2012 They were doing more of that vision thing. They were doing it in the Shoreline Room of the Arts Centre. There were more than 150 people in the room – it was basically packed, with 140 of them citizens taking part in an exercise that was intended to help in the shaping of the city’s downtown core, which many feel is a bit of a mess and at times a disappointment – not THE place you go to for services and supplies.
But our situation is, according to the people who are doing the surveying, not all that bad. Pretty good in some categories, very good in others.
 Shoreline Room of the Art Centre was packed; close to 150 people participated. Did we manage to move the ball up the field? The event was nicely structured. City hall is getting very good at coming up with ways to involve people. Much more use is being made of large maps that people can work over as they gather around tables and trade comments and opinions.
This event ran just a little on the long side. People were beginning to drift out of the room and there wasn’t a solid wrap up – but there was a lot of input and if city staff can capture that input, interpret it and then work it into the plans they develop – the evening will have been time very well spent.
So what did we learn? The evening began with those necessary(?) introductions. Councillor Sharman wasn’t seen in the room and Councillor Dennison slipped in late in the game. Downtown isn’t Councillor Taylor’s turf.
Defining and then creating a vibrant downtown core is a joint venture between the private sector that takes the risks and city hall that comes up with rules, zoning and regulations that make things possible and a public that buys into what is in place and shows up with their wallets and purses and spends.
 This was a Workshop and people at the tables were certainly active. The session lasted a little too long and there wasn’t time to hear all the table summaries. There are some locations that are close to outstandingly successful. The Works, a high end hamburger joint where four people can spend more than $100 on burgers is very popular – don’t expect to always get a table right away – there are lineups – often. As marketers the people at The Works have figured it out – everything was free the first day they opened. Talk about getting the public’s attention. The folks over at the Village Square have had to put what they had on the selling block because the ability and the desire to really aggressively market that location just isn’t in them anymore. The property is for sale – some say it has actually been sold. The public record doesn’t show a change in the owners of the property.
La Costa did a name change and is now Celli’s Osteria which means authentic food sourced from the local countryside. Melodia is open on the corner of Locust and Elgin, the Prime Rib moved from Brant to Elgin several months ago but has yet to open their doors. So there is some health in the core.
 These could have been tables with family members gathered playing a game of cards – most had a friendly, relaxed mood to them. The meeting was a review of the Strategic Action Plan which Jody Wellings, Planning and Building department, said the committee had delivered on. As a committee they met 14 times and got 520 people to take part in the survey they had done.
As part of the research work done by Urban Metrics for the city, a measurement was taken of all the retail space in the downtown core. Here is what we learned from the 140+ people who participated in the Workshop.
They reported that there was 1.1 million square feet of retail space in the core (which oddly enough was never defined during the meeting) and that 81,000 people lived in the area.
 Notes taken, views exchanged – city planning staff now have to go through all the data and figure out what the public has said. Is there an end result? At some point Burlington will have the vibrant downtown is wants. There are 130,000 square feet of office space in the core. While delivering the data the researcher added that there are companies that would kill for the kind of downtown Burlington has. That view doesn’t quite square with comments made by Sheila Botting. National leader on real estate and financial services for Deloitte, who told a Council Workshop that while the core is appealing the cost of providing parking is prohibitive – business prefers the Burloak area where parking is less expensive. Transit in Burlington doesn’t appear to be an option for the management and executive crowd.
However, people believe there is significant opportunity for smaller boutique operations in the core – problem there is no one defines “boutique” and we have yet to see one choose Burlington.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward had her daughter Miranda, a grade 9 student, shadowing her all day. The workshop was the end of a 12 hour day. The young lady does not have a campaign manager.  Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster was there but didn’t appear to be an active participant. Here she talks with Scott Wallace, proprietor of Burlington Taxi who has an interesting report going to council committee this week. In general boutiques are seen as small groups – that can reach 75 people, who are professionals: architects, law firms, researchers that prefer a quieter community but need very quick access to downtown Toronto. Burlington does have the access to the “big smoke” – it’s just not that fast to get to. An hour on a plugged expressway isn’t the way professionals want to spend their time.
The researchers described our core as stable with commercial space increasing; that would be marginal increase at best.
The commercial space vacancy rate is 11.2% of the existing space which is a little on the high side. We aren’t in trouble but the sector isn’t exactly vibrant.
 Each of the tables was assigned a subject to discuss. Had the people at this table gone shopping. The researcher said that 70% of the people who shop in the trade area live south of the QEW, 20% are from outside the community – which leaves 10% that come from north of the QEW – the folks in the Orchard and the new Alton community aren’t coming downtown as much as the merchants would like them to.
Why do people come downtown? Because they have to; because they live downtown or they work downtown or they have an appointment. 13% of the people who come downtown do so to shop while 9% come downtown to dine.
29% come once a week; 47% drive to the core, 40% walk; 8% use transit and 4% use their bikes.
Asked what downtown should be – the answers from the survey were: festivals, entertainment, meeting people and the place they take visitors.
What kind of retail services did those surveyed want to see? A first run movie theatre; a small supermarket, a hardware store and more restaurants with more in the way of clothing and accessory retailers was on those wish lists.
The Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA) has been trying for some time to get a supermarket to open up in the core – Brian Deane, Executive Director of the BDBA, hasn’t been able to land one of them yet. Parking is the biggest problem and because the supermarkets know we all have to eat – we will go to where they are – they don’t have to come to where we are. There will come a time, when the core will have people who will not want to or be able to drive to the supermarkets, and supply will follow the demand. That day hasn’t arrived yet.
The advice the researchers offered was that we need to leverage the assets we have, (most of the retailers don’t know how to do that) and communicating has to be well done. Many of the smaller merchants don’t particularly want to communicate to a wider market; they have their core clientele and they do very well with that – why go to a lot of additional effort at some cost and not be certain they are going to see a return.
The surveys did note an interest in a Farmer’s Market in the core – and the city had one for several months in the summer. It struggled. The one time there was a crowd was during the Chef’s Shootout which could have been a boffo event had it not rained. Even with the poor weather, with a dozen or so umbrellas set up to keep the water off people as they watched two well rated chef’s do their thing with the most rudimentary equipment.
The number of people who showed up for the event suggests Burlington Tourism wants to look at this – it was a good idea that just needed some time and more in the way of promotion – hopefully Barry Imber won’t give up the ghost on the idea – it is well worth doing for at least one more season.
Our Burlington was the only media in the city to continuously follow and promote the event.
The researchers thought public funds and resources were needed to draw in private investment. Those are your tax dollars they’re talking about. Back in 1985 the city permitted a “landmark” structure to be built on the edge of the lake – there is still nothing on the site. The city back then did it’s part – the private sector sat on what they were given and let it improve in value but gave nothing back to the city. Late this year we might see a shovel in the ground to start the building of an eight story structure – they currently have approval to build up to seven storeys – they’re asking the Committee of Adjustment to allow an additional floor.
There are cranes on the horizon in Burlington, there is activity, that tipping point however doesn’t appear to have been reached. Last Christmas season there were major restaurants and retailers on lower Brant who had nothing in the way of seasonal decoration on their locations.
The audience was told to not compromise the vision and expect false starts – does the pier fall into that category? While on the pier – construction progress does take place – albeit at close to a snail’s pace. But what are we going to end up with? A place we take people to and talk about how long it took to get built and how much it actually cost us?
It will be a magnificent structure and it will change the look of the city but will it end up like Ben Johnson, a magnificent athlete who destroyed his reputation by taking drugs; does the pier have too much negative history that we may not be able to live down?
There is certainly a challenge to leverage that asset when it finally opens and communicate the story. Do we have the people with the skill sets needed to do that communication?
We were told to measure performance and then empower the decision makers – that would assume there are enough qualified decision makers in town. It is a challenge. There are some exceptionally good people who work for the city – are there enough of them?
 At some point all the data and all the public input gets placed in front of Burlington’s Planner, Bruce Krushelnicki – who will issue a report and city council will make decisions. Creating the downtown the city wants and needs has not been an easy process for Burlington. The province has a growth plan which calls for 15,000 new jobs in the region by 2031. Burlington is going to limp towards its part of that objective; we just aren’t creating the job opportunities; our commercial assessment for 2012 will be less than it was for 2011 – not a good sign. Once the Economic Development Corporation shakes itself out we will begin to see a change but that could be as much as a year away.
The province wants there to be a “mobility hub” in Burlington, which will centre on the Fairview GO station that is undergoing an upgrade. The site immediately south of the GO station, west of Wal-Mart on the north side of Fairview, is to be developed and have at least four towers. Efforts are being made to have some of that space set aside for commercial use.
With the theory and some of the potential set out for the Workshop audience, the researchers then began an interactive process with the audience. Participants were given hand help devices the size of a package of playing cards, and told to make their choices to questions that appeared on the large screen at the front of the room.
A question would appear on the screen, participants would be given 30 seconds to make a choice – and the results would appear on the screen instantly. It is a remarkable opinion survey tool the city has used in the past. Very effective.
How many of you live in the downtown core:
Of the 130 responses – 2/3rds say they lived in the downtown core.
How many owned a business? 20% of the 133 responses
How many of you think the core has a lot going for it? Most saw the core in a positive light.
What are the top three things you like about the downtown core?
The waterfront, the restaurants, the places to walk. 137 responses
Things that need the most attention?
Neighbourhood shops; better places to live, more entertainment locales. – 133 responses.
What would you like to see added? You can add your views to the city’s on line survey.
https://urbanmetrics.fluidsurveys.com/s/burlingtonsurvey/
 One of the prime places to just enjoy the city is on the north side of Lakeshore looking out over ther lake. This could be a social spot in almost any one of the prime tourist destinations in Europe or North America – but it is right here in Burlington. More entertainment destinations, restaurants and cafés, retail stores and parks. That last one, parks was odd; Burlington has the equivalent of 333 football fields in public park space. Central Park has to be one of the largest in any city of comparable size.
The audience was told that all the data collected will be up on the city’s web site. Most of the questions are shown but the responses aren’t there at least not as of Saturday afternoon.
The Downtown vision team will be going over the data and determining what to do next. That means more meetings. Ugh!
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 The Council Chamber was close to filled with dozens of young women in sports sweats, many wearing medals that clinked together as they walked. Were they there to delegate to Council? All of them? That would be unusual. They were polite and when Mayor Goldring announced why they were there they trooped to the podium and gathered while the Mayor explained.
 Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 girls soccer team, pose for the camera after being recognized by city council for an outstanding season This was the 50th anniversary of the Burlington Youth Soccer Club and the two groups; the U14 and the U16 Burlington Bayhawks soccer teams were there to be recognized for an outstanding year on the soccer field. They won at every level they played at.
 Burlington Bayhawks wearing their “bling” and waiting to be called to the podium. During the presentation, the members of each team were given a pin with the city crest on it – they were photographed and told they didn’t have to stay for the rest of the Council meeting – they left immediately – these kids know a dull show when they see one.
The club has done very well with its program. Five of the women who played on Canada’s Olympic Soccer team came out of the Burlington program; probably more from Burlington than any other club in Canada. A record for which they have every right to be very proud.
The Burlington Bayhawks Girls Under 16 came out on top in the Ontario Youth Soccer West Division; the Ontario Youth Soccer level; the Ontario Cup, the National Cup and added to that five first places in competitions that took place in the United States.
The team record for the season was 45 wins; 3 ties and 1 loss.
 Burlington Bayhawks – girls under 16 soccer team took every level they played at during the season. The Burlington Bayhawks Under 14 Girls did just as well. They triumphed at the National Cup level, the Ontario Youth level and the Ontario Cup level.
Their season record was 27 wins, 4 ties and five losses with 115 goals earned and 31 against. These 14 year olds will move on to the U16 level where they will be a very competitive team.
With five, 2012 soccer Olympians coming out of the Burlington club – Canadians are likely to see our teams in the finals much more often. We may just begin to see a winning streak we have not seen for some time.
Mayor Goldring suggested that the teams’ success was a direct result of the “pep” talk he and Councillor Sharman gave the two teams before they left to compete in Vaughan and Prince Edward Island. Watching those girls stride to the podium to be congratulated, left little doubt in the minds of all that they didn’t need much in the way of “pep” talks to win. These girls were champions!
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The event won’t take place until March of next year but that wasn’t enough to stop Diane Leblovic, who delegated to a City Council meeting letting them know she had a real problem with the use of the word “limited” in a letter that had been sent by the sponsor of the Chilli Half Marathon and Frosty 5K Half Marathon Chilli Run.
She also had a problem with the public consultation process as well. Leblovic explained that she and her “ neighbours were restricted from leaving their homes for over three hours during the event.” She went on to say that last year the restriction lasted four hours.
 Leblovic residence – family is locked into their home for as much as four hours during the Chilli Half Marathon. Leblovic lives on Birett Drive, a street that exits onto Lakeshore Road where, according to Leblovic, access during the races is far too limited for her liking and that of her neighbours.
Mrs. Leblovic, a former school board trustee and one of the organizers behind the 35 year recognition event for former Mayor Cam Jackson to take place November 18th at the Performing Arts Centre, took issue with the public consultation process and the change in the route in 2010.
 The only way out of their community is onto the Lakeshore which is apparently blocked for as long as four hours during the Chilli Marathon race each March. Diane Leblovic is looking for some relief. There was a point when the route went out along New Street to Burloak and then back along Lakeshore (we may have the direction wrong) and was changed to using two lanes of Lakeshore because there were fewer problems with people wanting to get to church. There were 39 complaints on the New Street/Lakeshore route and just 12 when the event went to just Lakeshore Road.
Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road said that while he lives on Lakeshore he was quite prepared to share that road with people who are out there doing something that will benefit the community.
Leblovic focused on two points: The use of the word ‘limited’ access to Lakeshore by those who live north of Lakeshore and the lack of a fair public input process.
Councillor Dennison thinks the problem for people north of Lakeshore has been resolved. “All they have to do is drive onto Lakeshore, turn right and make another right up the first street they come to and they are clear.”
Also, he added, the race organizers have said they “will pick people up and get them to where they want to go”; they are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep people happy.
Leblovic wants her public input process and Council has gone along with her. A Staff Direction was agreed upon that will gather public opinion but it won’t have any impact on the flow of traffic next March. That chilli is going to give Diane Leblovic more heart burn.
“In my view” said Mrs. Leblovic “it is inappropriate to have one area of the city bear the inconvenience resulting from this event every year and that consideration should be given to altering the race route … to alleviate this inconvenience.”
 The 4000 people who run the half marathon seem to have a great time – but they land lock people who want to access Lakeshore Road for as much as four hours. Mrs. Leblovic noted that Pete Peebles, the organizer of the event “has finally put forward a proposal which provides for public consultation … and a consideration of route changes…” While the suggestions were seen as a good start Leblovic had a “number of concerns with the proposal including, in particular, the manner of, and the short time for, public consultation.” The proposed exclusion of those living on the north side of Lakeshore Road and the absence of other possible strategies such as earlier start times
 The runners that make it to this point in the Chilli Half Marathon may not realize they are keeping people in their homes with no access to Lakeshore Road. The promoter of the event had said he would hold a public meeting, more than once, but there hasn’t been a public meeting yet. The city decided to step in and ensure that a public meeting takes place and staff was directed to “hold a public meeting to gather public input on the routes and timing and other matters related to the Chilly Half Marathon and include the results of that feedback in the festival and events recommendations for 2014”.
Diane Leblovic lives on a lakefront property with a single access to Lakeshore Road. The runners would limit that family’s ability to get instant access to Lakeshore Road.
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison, who lives on Lakeshore Road, pointed out that more than 4000 people take part in the event and that the city and its citizens benefit from the event. Leblovic apparently doesn’t share that view.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 7, 2012 The media release said: Mayor Goldring is pleased to announce that he will be hosting Inspire Burlington Leadership Workshop – Defining Our Dream on November 22, 23 and 24th.
“After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves”, said Mayor Goldring. “Basically, what is our dream?”, he asked.
 Mayor Goldring and his Council plus many staff members spent eleven half days thinking through a Strategic Plan that didn’t quite come up with a defining goal. Goldring on the left with the top Human Resources guru at city hall, Roy Male and two of the KPMG staffers who facilitated the event. The Mayor also said: “ We all know that Burlington is a great place to live, work and play. We have had 25 years of growth and prosperity which has led Burlington to be recognized as one of the very best places to live in Canada. In order to sustain our prosperity and quality of life and to meet the needs of our ever changing community we also recognize that we must challenge the status quo and continually challenge ourselves.”
“We have an excellent foundation to build our dream on. We have an engaged community, a strong local government, a strategic plan, a great location and environment with the lake and escarpment, and a diverse local business community. Defining our dream will bring this all together.”
The Mayor has engaged Dr. Lance Secretan to facilitate the development of a defining dream for Burlington. “It is my hope” said the Mayor, “that this dream will provide the community with an ambition and determination that brings us together and helps us build a future for which our children will be proud.”
 Mayor Goldring: Taking part in a Community Engagement Charter meeting. He needed that coffee at this one.  Mayor Goldring is a thoughtful, considerate, caring person. Are “political smarts” really part of his make up? “This Leadership Workshop is a starting point. I would like to sincerely thank the participants that have agreed to commit selflessly their time and effort to this project. I am excited to be developing this defining dream with community leaders and am equally excited to have the opportunity to share the dream with the community afterwards.”
The media release leaves a lot of unanswered questions:
Who chose the people who are going to participate in this workshop? Did the Mayor make the decisions? How balanced is this group of people? Marketing people do this sort of thing all the time; they choose a group of people they know will give them the answers they want and then claim they have “research” that tells them everyone likes their product.
The city deserves more in the way of transparency on this one.
The city has a Strategic Plan. It used eleven half days of meetings with an excellent facilitator but at that time was unable to come up with a clear goal – what they all referred to as that “BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal”. Those Strategic Planning meetings included all the council members and most of the leading thinkers and operators on staff. It was during the creation of the Strategic Plan that the Mayor and his Council realized how out of step the city manager at the time was with the thinking being done by Council. That city manager was gone less than six months later.
Creating a vision is a delicate business. Keeping a balance between the various interests in a community is what politics is all about. No harm in going out to the community – just let the community know who it is doing the “dreaming”. One can be certain that this isn’t a meeting of a group of developers – we don’t have that kind of Mayor. But what kind of a Mayor do we have? He doesn’t seem prepared to tell the people he will ask to put him back in office in less than 20 months who he has asked to dream with him.
Not very transparent.
How many people are participating?
Is there an agenda; a format the participants will follow?
Why hold the event now?
Is the pier part of the dream or is it an expenditure that will have to be explained during the next municipal election?
 Summer reading – winter dream? We know why the Mayor chose Lance Secretan to facilitate this dream session. While on vacation last year the Mayor took along a copy of Secretan’s book, The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch and was “inspired”; a word the Mayor is partial to – using it for the excellent series of speakers he has sponsored since becoming Mayor. His next Inspire speaker is Senator Art Eggleton, who will speak on The Great Divergence: Income Inequality in Canada”
Senator Eggleton has served the people of Canada and the city of Toronto in public office for over 37 years, including 11 years as Mayor of Toronto and 11 years in the House of Commons as the member for York Centre.
In 2005, Eggleton was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communication.
He is Co-Chair of the Liberal Social and Economic Policy Caucus and Co-Chair of the All-Party Anti-Poverty Caucus.
In his blog the Mayor gave us a look at some of his thinking. On November 6th he said: ” Thirty years ago Hamilton provided many of the jobs for Burlington residents. The steel plants were booming. The auto sector in South Western Ontario provided many well paid secure jobs which supported our community. Manufacturing was king as Ontario led the Canadian economic boom.
During the late 70’s and 80’s many Canadians moved from Quebec to the Toronto area bringing jobs, and prosperity came with them. Our economy supported the tremendous quality of life that developed and has been sustained for the last 30 years.
Our situation has changed. After steady growth, Burlington is now slowest growing community in the GTA. We are only expected to grow by another 19,000 residents in the next 20 years; this pales in comparison to the growth we have experienced in the past.
 The Escarpment is certainly part of the dream. Is Burlington going to be able to keep the dream? Can we afford to keep this dream? The community made a decision that it was important to protect the rural and environmentally sensitive lands in Burlington. This rural area represents about 50% of Burlington. This decision has an impact on other areas of the city.
 Is this a big part of the dream the Mayor is looking for? How big a part of the city is the waterfront? Is it more than just something to look at? We are competing to attract businesses and residents not only with other Ontario municipalities, but also other cities in Canada and even other international cities. What makes us unique and distinguishes us from others that will make Burlington the location of choice?
These factors are leading to community discussion about what we don’t want. I want to generate a discussion about what we do want.
After speaking with and listening to thousands of residents over the last two years I believe we have a need and an opportunity to better define what we want Burlington to be; how we want others to see us; and how we want to see ourselves. What is our dream?
The dream will start an important conversation with the entire community that will result in a prosperous future for our City. I believe that by creating a defining dream we will have a rallying point, a touchstone, which will bring us together and allow us to make the decisions we have to make with purpose.
After the workshop I will be sharing the results with the community. We will be able to have a conversation that is inspiring and about what we want to be as a collective community.”
We can’t wait – let’s hope that the results aren’t lumps of coal in our Christmas stockings.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 6, 2012 — The environment, global warming – yeah, yeah, I know. Those icebergs that are falling apart way up north. And the hot summer – it all means something – at least that’s what they tell us…but then there are those who tell us it is just a phase the earth is going through.
I know there is something different about the weather – it was certainly hotter last spring and that false signal all the tender fruit trees got put a big dent in the fresh fruit market. But was that global warming or was it just a weird stretch of weather?
Sometime we need a big bold signal. And that was what Bloomberg’s Newsweek magazine said with its cover this week.
It was also a part of what Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig said recently about GO transit capacity and the crucn we are facing as the Region grows by 100,000 people each year. Then he made a statement that stunned me. He said “A full 70% of residents in the GHTA never use transit.”
GHTA means the Greater Hamilton Toronto Area. I checked with the GO press relations people to be sure that number was right. It was.
GO ridership has increased 21% over the past five years and at peak times is operating at 110% of capacity. McCuaig adds that “without at least doubling transit mode share, the average daily commute will jump from 82 to 109 minutes in 25 years. In rush hour, using the QEW to get to downtown Toronto the commute is easily 90 minutes. Being able to use the HOV lane cuts that quite a bit – but that lane is certainly not anywhere near its capacity.
After reading the McCuaig comments my mind went back to that Newsweek cover and suddenly the dots were connected. It is the environment – and we are stupid.
 Bloomerberg Newsweek magazine cover – has the point been made yet? The article in the magazine set out the point and the problem.
When mainline media take on an issue and use their ability to put up stunning graphics you know something is amiss.
New York magazine had a very strong visual showing New York city with part of it in close to total darkness while other parts of the city had power.
Parts of Burlington were without power for a period of time – not short to those who had no light and a fridge that would only keep its temperature for so long.
What does a single person do. If you’re one of the 70% in the GHTA who hasn’t taken transit – there is a simple step you can take.
 New York city. This is what it looks like when the lights go out in a major city. Global warming? If you live in Burlington and you don’t drive and you are attending a city council meting and want to take part in the debate as a delegation you want to hope that you are up early if the list is long. I have seen situations where d delegation has had to leave because if they did not they would miss their bus.
Last budget the city took thousands of dollars out of the transit side of the budget and used it to “shave and pave roads that were said to be in serious need of repair.
We close down bus routes and limit the schedule. And we continue to build communities where a car is essential.
It is global warming and we really can be stupid – this time our stupidity has the potential to make it impossible to live on this planet.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 City hall staff were in a bit of a hurry on this one – they wanted to know what you thought of the current sign by-law and were looking for feedback as it prepares to review its sign bylaw regarding the use of banner-type signs throughout the city.
 Is this the kind of thing the city wants to change? The city’s current sign bylaw outlines the use of signs throughout the city, including guidelines regarding the colour, size, design and location of signs. It also limits the use of banner- type signs to charitable organizations only. These signs are considered incidental signs and do not require a permit.
“We have heard from the sign industry and local businesses that they would like to see some changes to the city’s current bylaw,” said Tracey Burrows, manager of bylaw enforcement and licensing. “We are looking at how these signs are being used on private property and the issues around size, location and the length of time the signs can be displayed.”
The City of Burlington is gathering input on possible amendments to the bylaw. An online survey is available on the city’s website www.burlington.ca/bylaws. People who don’t have Internet access that are interested in providing comments can call 905-335-7731 to complete the survey over the phone. The comments received from this questionnaire will be used to develop a recommendation to the city’s community development committee. Input and comments must be received before Nov. 5 to be included.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 1, 2012 You want to talk to someone at city hall; you know the department but you don’t know the full name of the person you want to speak to. Or you know their name but don’t know their phone number.
Learning who does what at Burlington city hall is a challenge – and that’s the way the city wants it. They don’t want you calling people, who are in meetings more often than not. Kim Phillips, a city general manager who oversees Budget and Corporate affairs wants to drive the public to the city web site, which if you haven’t noticed, hasn’t won any awards for ease of use.
 City General Manager Kim Phillips will handle the e-government file – is she a true believer in getting useful data into the hands of citizens or is she more concerned about cost containment and keeping her staff off the telephones? Phillips once said to a committee meeting that she didn’t want to see the city staff directory on the web site. Her preference is to drive traffic to the web site where citizens can learn what they want to know. Have you ever tried to navigate that web site? Have you ever tried to do a search for something? It’s easier to just call someone – they can usually give you a fast answer – if you can catch them at their desks.
City Manager Jeff Fielding thinks his staff hold far too many meetings and that the meetings they hold last far too long. And if you ever find yourself in a meeting with Fielding – don’t expect to be there very long. This guy wants you in and then he wants you out. Nice guy, friendly, very helpful but he isn’t there to talk about the weather.
 When you want to find someone in London, Ontario, former roosting spot for our city manager. It was easy to find any of the rascals. Don’t expect to be able to find the same level of access in Burlington. London does it quite a bit differently. Go to their web site and just pick out the staff directory from the city’s web site; it’s there on the main menu. Type in the name and you get the person, the title, the telephone and the local and which floor of the building they are on. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Burlington put in a new telephone system a while ago – it was chaos for more than a month. At one point the women at reception had to deal with three different telephone sets.
Any other corporation installing a new telephone system would never tolerate this level of service. Crews would arrive on the Friday to install everything and it would be fully operation on the next work day. For some reason the municipal world seems to be able to get away with this kind of really sloppy service.
It is not all doom and gloom. There are services that are fully electronic – and they work very well. Just not enough of them. One that we found to be excellent, was getting an on-street parking permit while the drive way was being paved. Went on line at 2:00 am, (insomnia) and it was a breeze. The only hitch was that it wanted the second part of the Street name (Ie: Drive, Avenue, Crescent) which wasn’t immediately evident to me. After that I just typed in the data and got a document to put on the dash board. These permits allow you up to 15 days a year of on street parking at night. The document you get tells you how many days you have left. That’s service, which perhaps makes Kim Phillips’ point – drive them to the web site. Fine – but deliver top level service so that I don’t have to phone anyone.
City Manager Jeff Fielding was very recently awarded the first ever Local Government Program Alumni Society Award of Excellence. There just might be some bright days ahead for Burlington taxpayers.
Hope they are working hard on making it real easy to vote on line. No more election night lineups – easier to get rid of the rascals.
The City is providing adequate online service delivery in comparison to other municipalities, but needs to evolve its model to remove the risk of falling behind. The e-Government Strategy proposes that Burlington be positioned as a Digital City – a city that uses technology to its full potential and fully engages the community in delivering excellent, innovative and efficient customer service. This innovative model will provide Burlington a competitive advantage for attracting knowledge and technology based business and community initiatives.
The city`s e-Government Strategy presents four strategic cornerstones for successful delivery of an effective e-Government program:
1. Build a Customer First Service Delivery model. Design and build programs and services in a truly customer first way.
2. Build a Customer Centric Technology Architecture. Build a core foundation based on new and enhanced portal
technologies that deliver more robust, flexible and updated functionality and provide integration to a Customer Relationship Management system.
3. Prioritize an Internet First model, while supporting channel choice. Design services so that the Internet is the primary service channel over other costly channels, while supporting and enabling delivery through conventional channels.
4. Embrace Open Government, Citizen Engagement and Government 2.0. Embrace Open Government and Open Data initiatives to encourage participation, interaction and transparency. The strategy requires an investment of approximately $2 million in technology and resources over the next three years. This will build the technology platform to power the e-Government and online service programs for the future.
There a lot of those buzz words bureaucrats like to use. But the essence is that they want you to go to the web site and get your water from that tap and don`t come into the kitchen with your cup in hand. It costs the city too much to provide the number of staff needed to answer all the questions.
That`s good cost containment talk but it doesn`t do much for the citizen wanting information. Burlington has a population that is aging and at the same time there are sections of the city with young families and parents on the go with smart phones in their hands far too often – even as they drive. Dumb.
 Christrine Iamonaco, on the right, was brought in to develop a Citizen’s Engagement Charter for the city – her document goes to a Council Committee this month – don’t expect it to be smooth sailing. Much of that spending on e-government got the chop in the 2012 Budget – the civic administration wasn’t really ready, and at the time they weren‘t effectively staffed up. A former IT type who did one round of changes on the city web site found greener grass at the federal level and moved on. Cuts at the federal level brought him back to Burlington.
This file gets back to the committee – let`s see what we can get done this time around.
The Citizen`s engagement Charter comes up at about the same time. Some had hoped that e-government, a process that would make tons of data available and result in a citizenry that had everything they needed to work with city hall to advance their fondest hopes and dream, gets to put its best effort on the table as well. We will keep you up to date on how that one goes.
 Will the zeal that he had in his early days as part of the Shape Burlington committee still be there when the Citizens Engagement Charter gets put before council?  Councillor Blair Lancaster was an original member of the Shape Burlington Committee; left to run for public office. Will we see any serious commitment to the concept of citizens having strong rights and access to the information they want? Is Lancaster positioning herself for a shot at the top job when Goldring decides to retire? Many of the people who were heavily involved in the development of the document think it is too long – will real life get breathed into it before the end of the year? Don`t hold your breath. City Council as a group isn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy about the idea of an Engagement Charter – most went along with it as a motherhood and apple pie issue – they didn’t know how to say no to what the Share Burlington report was recommending.
The two council members who were members of the original Shape Burlington committee that produced the report went on to bigger and better things and now sit on city council where they will determine the fate of the Charter that is being put forward.
It will be interesting to see how Councillors Lancaster and Sharman stick handle this one.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 5, 2012 With less than a year under his belt as city manager, Jeff Fielding gets a call from his old stomping ground and is told he is the recipient of the first ever award given by the Local Government Alumni Society at Western University to a civil servant for excellence in his field.
The award was announced at the annual conference held at Museum London. Fielding, served as City Manager for the City of London from 2004-2012, was honoured for his 30 years of significant contributions to municipal administration.
 City Manager Jeff Fielding has been at his desk for close to a year now and has figured out who the performers are and who isn’t pulling their weight. He recently admitted to council that he is understaffed at the top levels but has yet to find the person he is looking for to fill the third General Manager position that is waiting to be filled. Fielding would rather go with too few people than find himself with people are aren’t going to deliver. Refreshing. The Local Government Program Alumni Society Award of Excellence was established to honour and recognize an individual who inspires others and demonstrates public service excellence. The award is presented each fall at the Local Government Program Alumni Society conference.
In presenting the award, Jody Johnson, Local Government Program Alumni Society President said: ” Jeff is a leader who has consistently demonstrated public service excellence through his longstanding commitment to improve the quality of life for all citizens,”
Fielding said the usual obligatory remarks in his response when he was given the award: “I am honoured to be the first recipient of the Award of Excellence from Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society. I consider being a public servant a privilege, and I thank the alumni society for this recognition”.
But behind those words is a tightly focused manager who expects nothing but excellence from those he leads. When he arrived in Burlington he took up the vacant city manager office on the eighth floor of city hall but soon moved down to the sixth floor where the two city managers and other members of their team work. Being around the corner from the Mayor on the eighth floor was not the way Fielding was going to lead his team – he was going to be right in the thick of it with them.
 City Manager Jeff Fielding on the lift with General Managers Kim Phillips and Scott Stewart. Fielding moved from the floor he used to share with the Mayor to the floor in city hall where his General Managers keep the city running. Being with them isn’t enough for him though; he leads by example; he expects to make mistakes and when he does (and he has made a few) he apologizes and learns from his mistakes. He expects the same of his staff.
Fielding managed to squirrel away $80,000 for staff training that will be delivered through a curriculum being prepared by the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University on the south Service Road in Burlington. The classes are for staff from Supervisor level up – and they are mandatory – and don’t fail the course.
“The Local Government Program Alumni Society is one of Western’s most influential and active alumni groups. The establishment of an award of excellence for both alumni and non-alumni is another example of their leadership in recognizing and honouring great public service throughout Canada”, said Josh Morgan, Recruitment and Development Officer, Western University.
Mayor Goldring said: “We are fortunate at the City of Burlington to have someone like Jeff Fielding who is wholly committed to excellence in public service. Western University’s Local Government Program Alumni Society clearly recognizes Jeff’s contributions to inspiring those around him and creating an environment of innovation”. That demand for excellence applies not just to the staff Fielding leads but the council that serves as his board.
 By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON November 2, 2012 Many of us are still cleaning up after the hurricane that devastated large parts of the American eastern seaboard. The wild winds that blew through Burlington brought down whole trees and a lot of twigs and branches as well – those branches CANNOT be added to the piles of leaves the city will be picking up.
 Twigs and branches cannot be part of the fall leaves pick up. They have to be bundled separately.  Cathy Robertson who runs the Parks and Recreation Maintenance program for the city and tells everyone that the branches that came down during the wind storm CANNOT be put out with leaves the city is collecting. Cathy Robertson, director of roads and parks maintenance explains that: “The equipment we use to collect loose leaves is not capable of managing sticks and branches.”
“If there is anything other than leaves in the leaf piles, the operator will have no choice but to leave the piles behind.”
The city collects loose leaf piles, the Region manages the yard waste paper bag program in Burlington.
In urban Burlington, the Region will pick up branches and twigs during standard yard waste collection every other week until Dec. 14, 2012. Brush must be tied in bundles no larger than 1.2 m x 0.6 m (4 ft x 2 ft) wide, with branches a maximum of 7.5 cm (3 inches in diameter).
In rural areas of Burlington, branches and twigs may be brought to the Halton Waste Management Site. Standard fees apply. Visit https://halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=12662 for more information.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON October 30, 2012 The name doesn’t do much for me but the concept certainly resonates – giving young people an opportunity to test their entrepreneurial ideas and raise some of the money they need to get an idea off the ground. Then they have mentors to work with as they make their mistakes and learn that what they thought was a great idea, that was going to make them oodles of money, bumped into the cold hard reality of the market place.
While the idea is a bit of a copy – and a the pinching of an idea from CBC’s very popular Dragon’s Den TV show – the Rotarians have taken it quite a bit further.
 The Pythons’ Pit leadership Team: From the right Dr Melina Head, McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business; Rotarian Fareen Samji with fellow Rotarian Tom McLeod and Joe Pagano, a representative from the Royal Bank. Rotary works from the premise that ‘service is above self’. One of the arms of the organization is vocational service. Fareen Samji, a Rotarian, had in the past been asked to take part in mock Dragon’s Dens events at Alexander Public School where she was really impressed with the ideas the grade 8 students had. So impressed that it occurred to her that this was something Rotary could do.
Fareen is a dangerous woman with an idea. With the idea in her head it wasn’t long before her Rotary Club said – sure, we could do that. Now at Rotary if they go along with an idea you have – it is yours to achieve. So there she was with approval from her Rotary Club to do a Pythons’ Pit.
Why stop with just the one Rotary Club she asked – and thus a Rotary Road show took place where she managed to get all ten Halton Rotary Clubs to get behind the idea.
Fareen knew that while this was her project to get done on behalf of the Rotary community in Halton Region, she also knew she couldn’t do it by herself. Next step was the political level and she got a buy in from all four Mayors: Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills.
Then the other service organizations had to be cued up – Fareen needed to ensure she wasn’t stepping on any toes. The Chamber of Commerce was onside.
 Dr Melina Head of McMaster University saw the Pythons’ Pit idea as a natural for the School of Business. Training people for business in a world that is much more competitive and global as well meant there had to be an academic component – so the people at McMaster University got a call. Fareen got lucky again when Milena Head, who runs the MBA program at the DeGroote School of Business, took to the idea instantly.
Fareen, who is the chair of the Pythons’ Pit project works with Tom McLeod who serves as vice chair. Fareen and Tom McLeod approached McMaster as a team and brought them into the idea.
All this is a long way of getting to the point where we can tell you in some detail how this is going to work. The most important thing we can tell you is that applications to be part of the program must be in no later than December 1, 2012. There is a lot of work to get done – so start now.
There are two categories; a High School students category and a General category which means anyone who isn’t a high school student.
There are cash prizes for the students.
There are no cash prizes for the General.
The entry fees for both categories have been waived.
The Pythons’ Pit web site has all the forms and the metrics on which entrants will be judged. Fareen Samji has no idea how many applications there will be – “we really won’t know until December 1st”, she said. “People will download the forms and begin putting together their applications – and that will take some time” she added.
Here are the links to the forms:
Student application form
General category application form
Next week we will tell you more about how this came together, how it will work and who the Pythons who will invest in the winning projects are and why they are doing this.
To come:
Part 2 The corporate participants and sponsors
Part 3 – The Pythons
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 2, 2012 Is this Friday? Then Mike Wallace, Burlington’s member of parliament is in town and he is either running a workshop, meeting a group of constituents or handing out cheques and getting his picture taken.
This Friday Wallace was hitting a triple base hit. While he didn’t have the cheque in his pocket he did make the cheque for the new gas fired kiln at the Burlington Art centre possible and he was on hand to look at the equipment purchased and learn more than he ever wanted to know about pottery and gas fired kilns.
 Ever the politician and a very solid constituency man at that – Mike Wallace chats with Helen, a member of the Pottery Guild who once delegated to city council when Wallace was a city Councillor. “I was able to solve a small problem for her” said Wallace. That was the base hit part of the day. He moved to second base when he bumped into a constituent he has known for some time and was able to take a moment to catch up on some of the local happenings. Then he was taken on a short tour of the Art Centre and got to look at some art that he understood, but didn’t understand what the value of the collection was to the Art Centre. “Where’s the value” was the question he had for the Ceramics Curator Jonathan Smith. Smith was explaining that the Art centre buys a full place setting for eight people from Canadian ceramic artists that become part of the permanent collection. The BAC has the most extensive collection in the country of Canadian ceramic art .
 Wallace didn’t quite believe what he was looking at was a photograph and took his glasses off to get an even closer look. He was certainly impressed with what he saw. Wallace also got to look at some art that amazed him – he asked several times if what he was looking at was a painting or a photograph. He was quite impressed with what he was looking at.
The third base drive for Wallace though was the television crew that followed him around. CPAC , the cable channel owned by the six of the cable television companies in Canada is doing a program on Burlington’s MP – not sure when they will broadcast the program – we will tell you when we know. They spent a full day following him around filming what an MP does when they are in the constituency for a day.
Much to Wallace’s chagrin – all that is likely to make it to air is about five minutes of tape. Turns out CPAC does these profiles of MP’s; keeps them on file and when they have a program that doesn’t fill in the hour or half hour allotted – they fall back to the film library and drag up whatever they have on hand that fits the slot. As Wallace put it: “It’s basically filler” but he’s going to ask for a copy of whatever they have and he’ll put it up on his web site.
Creepers – we thought federal bureaucrats could waste time and money – all day with an MP for a possible miserable five minutes. Yikes, but the spending is being done by the cable television companies, not the government.
The federal governments Cultural Spaces Canada program donated $31,900 for the purchase of the new kiln. That donation covered close to half of the total cost.
 $30,000 + of taxpayers money – and the folks at the Burlington Art centre are delighted. Burlington MP Mike Wallace was touring the Centre and getting a look at the gas fired kiln that will glaze all the bowls being used for the annual Soup Bowl event – always a BAC sold out event.  George Wale, Director of Programs at the Art Centre, on the right, thanks Burlington MP Mike Wallace for the funding from the federal government. The acquisition of the kiln was the culmination of 10 years of work that started when Frank Friedman began advocating for the piece of equipment that has allowed potters at the Art Centre to do much more sophisticated work.
 Burlington MP Mike Wallace has a piece of art explained to him by BAC Curator of Education Leslie Page The Burlington Art Centre is renowned in Canada for its collection that is the largest of Canadian ceramic work consisting of more than 2000 objects that have been collected during the last 30 years. Jonathan Smith, Curator of the ceramic collection, explained that there are artists from Vancouver to Halifax in the collection.
The BAC collection also has some late 18th century and 19th century porcelain in its collection. “People who know porcelain travel to Burlington to see what we have while others just stumble upon the collection while they are here.
The bowls that will be sold as part of the annual Soup Bowl event – November 15 to 18 – usually a sold out event were in the kiln while Wallace was being told how the thing works and why it was so appreciated by the Art Centre.
 Mike Wallace, Burlington’s MP looks at a place setting that is part of the BAC collection. Photo was taken through a glass display stand where Wallace wondered where the value was for the Centre in having place settings for eight people in the collection. When a politician does a tour and works to get funding for an organization there is often a small token of appreciation given by the group that got the funding. Ian Ross knows the game well and he made sure there was a small gift for Wallace who gratefully accepted the box with the bowl and a vase and said “he now had a Christmas gift for his wife”. It’s a nice gift Caroline – but Mike didn’t pay for it, so look under that Christmas tree again.
Wallace has been very supportive of the arts in Burlington. He helps where he can and when he can. The Ireland Farm has been given financial support and if Wallace could he would see a plaque in Burlington noting that the Burlington Races took place somewhere off the shore of the city in 1813 – turns out that’s a provincial thing and the federal people never meddle in provincial stuff.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON November 2, 2012 Crunch by crunch the walls come down. First the top floors and then down into the lower levels and eventually it will be just a flat empty site; a local icon will be no more. The Riviera Motel will be gone.
 Level by level the Riviera is taken apart by construction equipment. Gone is the view from the units on the lakeside and many many untold stories as well. One wonders how many Mr. and Mrs Smith’s registered there. The Riviera went from one of the nicer places to stay when you were in town with three levels overlooking the lake – the sunsets would have been magnificent from those small balconies.
Time passed the place by – it was bought in 1985 and while it remained open for business, the business that it did get got a little on the seedy side. The Region began to rent space in it for families that needed housing.
Building inspectors condemned the site and it was finally shut down and boarded up. Then the building was set on fire by what police believed were vandals.
 What is now fairly open space will begin to fill, first with a seven storey hotel that will be a little higher than the Waterfront Hotel that is on the far right. Once the land is fully cleared the site will be readied for the first of three structures that will go on the property. GET
The three structures will be built in stages with the first being a seven storey hotel, basically the same height as the Waterfront Hotel to the west.
Many people in Burlington don’t know that the site is zoned for a structure that will be 22 storeys high. That height was approved back in 1985 and isn’t going to be changed. The wonder is that there isn’t a 22 storey structure on the property now. There are at least four, eight to ten storey condominiums, several built by the Molinaro Group, on the north side of Lakeshore Road now. The resale market for those units is brisk.
 This condominium, on the north side of Lakeshore, is directly across the street from the Mayrose Tyco development that will have two seven storey structures and one 22 storey building – the view for the condo on the north side will never be the same. While 22 storeys is something Burlington will have to get used to – those condo units will attract buyers because there is never going to be anything that will block their view across the lake. The view from those upper floors will be quite something. The value of the units on the north side of Lakeshore will take a bit of a hit – the view will get blocked by the new structures – not something the real estate agents selling units tell people about.
 The developers are asking for an adjustment to the zoning by-law – they want permission to build an additional storey for a building that is now zoned for seven storeys. The Committee of Adjustment meetings are public – will anyone show up to object?  With the top floor partially gone – the Riviera Motel will soon disappear completely. Construction on the much more upscale Delta Hotel will begin sometime in the New Year. will it be completed before the official opening of the pier? While the demolition of the Riviera proceeds so does the application by the developers to have one more storey added to the permissible height. The first structure will be a hotel to be operated by Delta Hotels is asking the Committee of Adjustment to permit the building of an eighth floor that will allow one full floor for administrative offices. That’s a nice way of putting the grab for additional space.
Is the lake shore ready for structures that are higher than the city is used to? The WAPAC (Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee )that has been served the same fate as the Riviera Motel – the motel will be gone by the end of November, the advisory committee will be gone by the end of the year. While still active, the advisory committee has had nothing to say on the application at the Committee of Adjustment for an eighth storey by the developer.
That Advisory Committee hasn’t had much to say about the Mayrose Tyco project; it just accepted the fact that the approvals for the heights; two seven storey buildings and one 22 storey building were a done deal.
When former Toronto Mayor David Crombie made a presentation to the advisory committee in its early days he pointed out that while the committee may not have much real clout it did have the power of the bully pulpit which it could use very effectively if it chose to. It never really did say much.
 Will Councillor Meed Ward create a committee on the waterfront that will have real clout? will Council choose to listen to the committee? Is this a rejuvenated Save our Waterfront committee? Once the Advisory Committee is dead officially December 31st, Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward is expected to call to order the unofficial committee project she has created that will work out of her office. She has said that the committee will meet in the evenings, that she will chair the meetings but that she will not have a vote. Meed Ward has said that all the members of the former advisory committee have said they will become members of the Meed Ward committee.
At one point Mayor Goldring said he would also set up a committee to oversee waterfront matters but so far nothing has come to pass at that level.
This proliferation of committees reminds one of the now apparently defunct SOW operation. Save Our Waterfront was used by Meed Ward very effectively to propel her election campaign in 2010. Once elected Meed Ward left the committee; it hasn’t managed to do much since.
2013 might be a year during which we see Meed Ward’s committee begin to do the job the committee set up by former Mayor Cam Jackson was not able to do. One wonders how the Meed Ward committee will use the clout it hopes to have. It will surely have a strong membership – the Save our Waterfront committee had a reported 4000 members from across the city.
It will hold its meetings in the evenings and invite the public to delegate. The official Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee did not meet in the evenings and the record doesn’t show any public delegations every appearing before it.
Should the Meed Ward waterfront committee actually come up with recommendations that city council adopts and if the Meed Ward committee has the same membership as the official committee – can one conclude that the problem with the official committee was one of leadership? Just asking.
 By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON October 30th, 2012 Last week was a great week for the United Way in Burlington, announcing that they had reached the 25% level of the $2.1 million they need to raise – and we are not about to stop at that level are we? One of the United Way agencies put on an event in the parking lot of the United Way offices on Harvester Road that had three Food Trucks on the property selling lunches.
Cup Cake Diner had to pull out at the 25 minute mark – they were sold out. Gorilla Cheese and HankDaddy BBQ each had line ups of more than 50 people in front of their trucks. That is called a SELL OUT!
Then on Sunday there was a Fashion Shoe at the Rude Native on Brant. $25 got you a light lunch and a look at some new fashion pieces.
 C heck out the apparel that was on display. Burlington United Way Chair Paddy Torsney and one of her side kicks Kendra Mullen took to the runway – sorry, we don’t have the names of the other models.
Our reports are that it was a fun event that everyone enjoyed.
The city of Burlington held their annual truck pulling event outside city hall which was a successful event. Kim Phillips, one of the city’s two General Managers is working on the rest of the public sector to increase the giving at that level – that being the federal and provincial governments and agencies.
What really works for the United Way – and for you the citizen, is the payroll deduction plan. It can be as little as a dollar a paycheque – choose the number that reflects what you can manage. And if you need to bow out for a period of time – all that takes is a phone call.
Here’s what happens when you go the payroll deduction route. You see the gross payroll figure and then you see the CPP deductions (you will retire at some point) and then you see the EI deduction and hope you never have to make a claim. Then you see the United Way deduction and you can pause for a second, smile and know that you’re helping. It may not be much but when Len Loftus, chief cheese of the United Way operation for Burlington and Hamilton sees those combined numbers he is one happy camper – because he is the guy that has to figure out how much he can make available to the Food for Thought people – they are the ones who make meals available to kids who leave the house in the morning without a breakfast in their tummies. Or how much he is going to send to the Nelson Youth Centre that provides group based treatment intervention which supports and strengthens the ability of children and youth to develop more effective social and emotional skills. This program includes a mandatory parental program.
 Why do people line up like this to buy lunch? Because they know a portion of the proceeds are going to the United Way. The Food Truck program was such as success that plans are already being made for a repeat performance next year. The agencies that get the funds the United Way collects came up with the idea for the Food Truck event. It went so well that Gayle Cruikshank said the agencies want to make this a yearly event with proceeds going to the UW.
They all matter, they all need help and there is never enough to cover all the bases. Loftus has to wiggle and jiggle his numbers and hope that there is at least enough to cover those bases.
When you sign that payroll deduction card you are doing two things – helping in a real, measurable way and cutting down on the amount of wiggling and jiggling that Len Loftus has to do each year.
The theme for the United Way this year is Change starts here – it really starts at your pay cheque and being prepared to give some of it to those who need help.
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